Women's Basketball Falls To Yale, 77-73, In Overtime

Dec 21, 2008

NEW
HAVEN, Conn.  Erin Kerner (Erie, Pa.) scored a season-high 35
points, but the Quinnipiac University Women's basketball team fell
to Yale, 77-73, in overtime Sunday afternoon at John J. Lee
Amphitheater. The loss drops the Bobcats' record to 8-2 overall
this season and was the first road loss of the season. The win
improves Yale's record to 4-5 overall.

After
both teams got off to a slow start, the Bulldogs and Bobcats
combined for 25 points in a four-minute span. Kerner's
three-pointer from the left side pushed Quinnipiac up by one,
13-12, eight minutes into the opening half. The senior guard
started off hot, scoring 10 of the Bobcats' first 22
points.

Mandy
Pennewell's (West Chester, Pa.) three-point field goal from the
left corner on a fast break gave the Bobcats a 13-point lead,
37-24. On Yale's subsequent possession, Pennewell stole the ball
from Yoyo Greenfield at midcourt and brought it in for the
uncontested layup.

Bulldog
captain Jamie Van Horne tried to bring the Bulldogs back with a
drive down the lane, but was denied by sophomore Lailah Pratt
(Palmyra, N.J.). Pratt stepped into the paint and blocked the Yale
senior with her first rejection of the season. The Bobcats headed
into the locker room at halftime with a 14-point advantage,
43-29.

Kerner
led all scorers with a season-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting
from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play. Kathleen Neyens
(Jaffrey, N.H.) added eight points for the Bobcats, while pulling
down six boards in the first half.

The
Bulldogs came out of halftime on a 16-2 run to tie the score,
45-45. Ashley Carter capped the run with a steal at midcourt and a
layup at the other end of the floor. Two free throws by Brianna
Rooney (Guildford, Conn.) and a three-pointer by Kerner put the
Bobcats back up by five.

With
Rooney, last season's Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the
Year, on the bench with four fouls, Yale's Haywood Wright was open
on the left side for a three-point field to tie the score, 50-50.
Greenfield's two free-throws with just over 12 minutes remaining
gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game since holding a 7-6
advantage in the opening minutes of the game.

After
the Bulldogs led by as many as six points, Jacinda Dunbar's
(Eddison, N.J.) floater in the lane tied the score, 62-62. Dunbar
came up with a steal on Yale's next possession that allowed Kerner
to hit two from the free-throw line that gave the Bobcats the
two-point lead.

With
58 seconds remaining, Yale's Van Horne tied the game at 70 with two
free-throws. After the Bobcats were unable to score on their next
possession, Yale had a chance to take the lead in the final
seconds. Van Horne's three-point attempt from the top of the key
fell to the floor and after two Bulldogs collected rebounds and
missed layups the teams headed to overtime.

With
22 seconds remaining in overtime and Yale leading 73-71, Dunbar
went to the line after being fouled below the net. The freshman
forward hit both shots to tie the game as the team was unable to
record a field goal in the extra period, going 0-for-4 from the
floor. Van Horne received a backdoor pass along the baseline and
hit the winning layup with 2.6 seconds to lift the Bulldogs to the
77-73 overtime victory.

Kerner
finished with a season-high 35 points, two shy of her career mark
of 37 set last March against Long Island in the NEC Semifinals.
Rooney was the only other Quinnipiac player in double-digit
scoring, finishing with 10. Yale's Melissa Colborne led the
Bulldogs with 21 points, with 11 points coming from the free-throw
line.

Quinnipiac
returns to action Sunday, Dec. 28 when it travels to Durham, N.C.,
to take on No. 8 Duke. The Bobcats and Blue Devils are set to
tip-off at 2 p.m. from Cameron Indoor Stadium.